Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/333188 
Year of Publication: 
2024
Citation: 
[Journal:] ZFW - Advances in Economic Geography [ISSN:] 2748-1964 [Volume:] 68 [Issue:] 2 [Year:] 2024 [Pages:] 111-123
Publisher: 
De Gruyter, Berlin
Abstract: 
Although small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) contribute considerably to Germany's carbon emissions, regional savings and cooperative banks - SMEs' most important financiers - hardly consider this aspect in lending to these businesses. However, given Germany's commitment to climate neutrality by 2045, suitable approaches for injecting climate finance into these SME lending processes are greatly required. Against this background, the paper at hand aims to introduce the specific case of regional banks into the debate on green finance and green banking and suggest future research in this context. In discussing the state of research on the peculiarities of regional savings and cooperative banks, we outline the resulting opportunities and limitations for climate impact assessments in SME lending. We argue that while the dual bottom-line orientation of regional banks in Germany precludes them from applying simple positive or negative screenings, their in-depth knowledge about local clients and circumstances enables them to be active and engaging partners for the green transformation of SMEs. Nonetheless, we explain why developing solutions to utilise this knowledge for climate finance by integrating climate impact assessments into routine lending processes remains a particularly challenging task.
Subjects: 
regional banks
savings banks
cooperative banks
SME lending
climate finance
green banking
climate impact assessment
ESG ratings
Germany
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.